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There’s more to this humble-looking VJ Charger than meets the eye. It’s a factory-built beast that was the final Charger to roll off the production line at Tonsley Park powered by the granddaddy of Aussie six engines, the mighty E49.

The last ever E49-engined Charger features loud and proud on AMC #95’s cover and in a 10-page feature inside the mag outlining how this surprise packet came to be. After all, E49 engines were only fitted to VH Charger, right? Not quite. Our in-depth story explains all.

The new issue also spotlights Can-Am – the biggest of Big Banger racing series that had virtually no rules, but lots of Kiwi and Aussie flavour. Born in 1966, in its early years it was racing unlimited. The category culminated a few season later in big block Chevs stretched to over nine-litres to counter 1200bhp Porsches. Can-Am’s 1966-74 era is increasingly viewed as the zenith of motorsport innovation and spectacle.

It’s 50 years since Aussie star Frank Matich’s high-profile assault on the second season of Can-Am, 1967. We piece together what happened when the Match family and crew hit North America, with previously unseen images from the family’s archives.

Frank Matich wasn’t the only Australian driver to race in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, with Jack Brabham, Frank Gardner and Paul Hawkins also having a dig. While Aussies can’t boast the prolific success – or anywhere near the number of Can-Am starts – of their New Zealand counterparts, the quartet who did contest events certainly didn’t lack for dramatic experiences or exotic machinery.

Now about those Kiwis. New Zealand’s success on the world motorsport stage is unparalleled for a nation of its size. And nowhere did NZ perform more strongly than in Can-Am, thanks to the ‘Bruce and Denny Show’ at McLaren. Chris Amon also flew the flag. We speak to a former V8 Supercars team owner about his time with McLaren.

Holden enthusiasts will love our ‘Muscle Man’ profile on Bathurst privateer Bob Forbes, who raced a succession of Toranas through the 1970s and very nearly pulled off a surprise win in the soggy 1974 Hardie-Ferodo 1000. Forbes was also the Kevin Bartlett’s first choice co-driver when KB raced the Nine Sports Camaro. Bob recalls his runs in the big, brakeless midnight blue-coloured Chev in the 1979, 1980 and 1981 Great Races.

For Ford fans there’s our history lesson on Tickford’s first coming in Australia and coverage of the recent GT Nationals in Perth.

For fans of both marques, we recall the ‘Mr Holden’ versus ‘Mr Ford’ drag racing events over the quarter mile at Castlereagh.

Calder Park is the focus of our popular Sacred Sites section. “Two sq-sq-squirts and a w-w-w-wiggle” was how five-time Australian touring car champion Pete Geoghegan described the simple layout of the original circuit.

Meanwhile, we preview an event that will finally see John Harvey receive a plaque for finishing runner-up in the 1976 Hardie-Ferodo 1000. All this and a whole lot more in issue #95 of Australian Muscle Car magazine.